'Yes, if you put them back exactly as you
found them.'
'I'll try, madam.'
'Don't try. Do it!'
It was going to be a big job: bookshelves
covered three sides of the room. In the middle
of the morning I went to the kitchen to make
some coffee. Outside the window I saw the young
man who sometimes came to work in the garden.
I held my coffee cup up to the window,
inviting him to join me. He came in. He was
really quite good-looking – except for his
hands, with their short, fat fingers.
I asked him how well he knew Mrs Gilbey.
'Oh, quite well.' He smiled, like a man with
a secret. Then he bent forward and kissed me on
the lips.
I was working on the books on the third wall
when Mrs Gilbey came back. As I heard the front
door open, I took a piece of paper from my
pocket and pushed it between two books. I had
written a few words on it, with a green pen:
Dearest J
Please try to keep this page somewhere, to
help you to remember our love.
MARIE.
I pulled out a book just as Mrs Gilbey
entered the room. The paper fell to the floor,
and she picked it up.
Holding the paper, she left the room without
a word.
(^)